TASS is a leading Russian news agency with a history dating back to 1904. TASS has a global presence with nearly 140 offices across Russia and internationally. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the agency underwent a rebranding process and was renamed Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS). In 2014, the agency reverted to its original name, TASS.
Media assets
News agency: TASS
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
TASS is a company that is 100% owned by the Russian government, according to Russian experts interviewed for this report in March 2023. The government appoints the agency’s top management.
Source of funding and budget
While TASS generates advertising revenues, the Russian government provides the majority of its financing. In 2020, the company received a state subsidy of approximately RUB 2.9bn (equivalent to US$ 40.3m), according to media reports. In 2021, the agency received RUB 3.1bn. The following year, the agency’s state funding allocation increased to nearly RUB 4bn, according to media reports.
Editorial independence
TASS is the official news agency of the Russian government. During the period of Communist rule, the agency was closely associated with Russia’s intelligence services. Many of its journalists also served as informants at that time.
TASS continues to operate as a news agency under the editorial control of the government, in accordance with its editorial requests and guidelines. This is according to Russian experts and various academic and NGO studies. These conclusions have been confirmed by an ad hoc content analysis carried out as part of the latest round of research for this report, conducted in March 2023 and in February-March 2024.
To date, no domestic statute and no mechanism of independent assessment or oversight to validate TASS’s editorial independence has been identified.
September 2024